Tank Medium Mark A "Whippet"
Authors: P Kempf and T Rigsby. Edited by: P Radley

Soon the extreme slowness of the early tanks was identified as a problem. Of course, tanks were initially thought of as weapons of breakthrough only, but some experts started talking about using tanks for exploitation as well, working together with the cavalry. This, however, required a faster tank. The result was the Medium Mark A "Whippet" - or, as it was initially known, after its designer: "The Tritton Chaser".

Work started in October 1916, and the prototype made its debut on February 3, 1917. Full running trial was completed on February 11, 1917. This was the Oldbury version, with a smaller/shorter superstructure. It housed a fully rotating Austin armoured car turret, located on the left side of the vehicle. It had no exhaust, and no engine vents, on either side of the engine housing. Another distinct feature was the rear, unarmoured, round petrol tank. The suspension had five mud chutes and 16 wheel supports on either side. After the first few prototypes, to facilitate speedy production, the turret was abandoned and it was instead given a fixed crew compartment that could house 3 or 4 men manning Hotchkiss MGs in 3 out of the 4 positions provided. The fourth and fifth mudchute were combined leaving the final design with just four mudchutes, wheel supports were decreased to 6, exhaust and ventilation openings were cut into the engine compartment, and the petrol tank was moved to the front and armoured. An order for 200 vehicles was placed, and production started in December 1917.

Whippet 1 Whippet 2 Whippet 3 Whippet 4

The main points of design were long, low-set tracks, each driven by its own 45hp Tylor engine. The steering was done according to a very novel method. The driver sat behind a standard steering wheel, the turning of which directly affected the throttles of the two engines, thus increasing or decreasing the speed of the tracks, thus making turning a simple and straight-forward affair. (The gear boxes and transmission were independent for each track, but could be locked together when the tank was to run straight ahead.) In theory that is. In reality it was a system very difficult to master. For example, if the turn was too tight, one engine easily stalled, which brought the whole tank to an abrupt halt.

Whippet 5 Whippet 6 Whippet 6a Whippet 8

Whippets were first used in action near Herbetune in northern France in March 1918, but the tanks really came to the fore in August the same year when some 90 of them were used during the Battle for Amiens. (The action in August showed that the idea of "Cavalry Tanks" was as dead as the Cavalry themselves: in good conditions the horses were faster than the tanks, but whenever they met any serious opposition they had to wait for the "Whippets" to move up in support. And in heavy going the tanks left the cavalry behind.)

Whippet 7 Whippet 9 Whippet 10 Whippet 11

The Whippet had poor trench-crossing capability, but with its 13-14 km/h the Whippet was faster than the other tanks, and when used in the role it was originally intended for, it could make quite an impression. One such Whippet, "Musical Box", belonging to B Coy, 6th Battalion, commanded by lieutenant CB Arnold, took part in the big attack on August 8, 1918, overtook the slow Mk Vs, routed a German Artillery Battery and on its own penetrated to the rear of the German lines. Quoting Mitchell: "From this on the lonely Whippet, with its bold crew of only three men, carried on a war of its own. It shot down retiring infantry, attacked horse and motor transport, and regularly terrorized the bewildered Boche." This went on for eleven hours, and then the tank was first immobilized, surrounded and then destroyed by fire from field artillery. Arnold and one of his crew survived, and were taken prisoners.

Whippet 12 Whippet 13

Experimental modifications by the Tank Corps Central Workshops in France to a Mark A included the addition of leaf springs to the suspension and later the substitution of a Rolls-Royce 360hp aero engine for the Tylor engines. These changes increased the speed of the tank from about 8 mph to no less than 30 mph.

Whippet 14 Whippet 15

The German Army captured a number of Whippets, but they were never used in combat by them during the war. Their opinion of the Whippet was rather high, however, and some believed it was the only Allied tank that was worth copying outright. At least one captured Whippet was used by Freikorps forces during the unrest in Germany after the war.

Whippet 16 Whippet 17 Whippet 18 Whippet 19

The Whippet was also used in the Russian Civil War, first by the Whites, and later, when captured, by the Red Army. At least one of their Whippets had a 37mm cannon fitted to replace the forward-firing Hotchkiss MG. Also, an unknown number of Whippets were, after the war, purchased by the Japanese, who used them until 1929.

The video below comes courtesy of PDA:


References

F Mitchell. 1933. Tank Warfare. Nelson, London, England.
B T White. 1970. Tanks and Other Armoured Fighting Vehicles 1900 - 1918. Blandford Press Ltd, London, England.


How To Model This Tank

Whippet 20 Emhar make the only plastic one in both 1/72 and 1/35 scale.
Wayne McCullough of PaperPanzers makes a very nice card model of the Whippet in 1/72.
Modelik publish a 1/25 cardmodel
Reviresco make a white metal 1/72 one
Milicast make a 1/72 resin one that comes with track grousers.
Irregular Miniatures have a Whippet in their 6mm range.
Minifigs make one in 15mm.
Old Glory do one in 25mm size.
Brigade Games make a Whippet in 28mm (which they call 1/56 scale), as do Kingmaker Miniatures.